Amber Wiley - Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture

Amber Wiley

Directory

Amber Wiley

Education

George Washington University
PhD American Studies

University of Virginia School of Architecture
MA Architectural History, Historic Preservation

Yale University
BA Architecture

Contact

profwiley@ou.edu

About

Amber Wiley serves as the Director of the Institute for Quality Communities. With over 15 years of university-level teaching experience, her academic career includes teaching roles at research-intensive universities, liberal arts colleges and schools of architecture.

Wiley has dedicated her career to advancing the history and narrative of design and preservation in Black communities, while advocating for rigorous, thoughtful, and inclusive expansions of preservation policy and practice. Her research, teaching, and practice focus on interdisciplinary approaches, applied learning opportunities for students, and addressing critical issues of equity and justice.

She believes that cultural and educational institutions must actively engage the communities they serve and increase accessibility through innovative partnerships.

Wiley earned her Ph.D. in American Studies from George Washington University, a Master’s in Architectural History and a Certificate in Historic Preservation from the University of Virginia, and a B.A. in Architecture from Yale University.

Publications

Books

Wiley, Amber N. Model Schools in the Model City: Race, Planning, and Education in the Nation’s Capital(Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2025) (link)

  • Graham Foundation Grant to Individuals, 2024
  • Furthermore Publishing Grant in Art, Architecture, and Design, 2023

Wiley, Amber N. ed. Collective Yearning: Black Women Artists from the Zimmerli Art Museum(New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, forthcoming 2026)

  • Institute for the Study of Global Racial Justice Research Grant, 2022

Articles

Wiley, Amber N. “African American Architecture,” Grove Art Online(New York: Grove Art/Oxford Art Online, December 2023) (link)

Wiley, Amber N. “Updating the Woodson Home National Historic Landmark Nomination,” Journal of African American History108 no. 4 (Fall 2023): 711-715 (link)

Wiley, Amber N. “Carlos Manuel Rosario,” Washington History30 no. 1 (Spring 2018): 48-49 (link)

Wiley, Amber N. “The Dunbar High School Dilemma: Architecture, Power, and African American Cultural Heritage,” Buildings & Landscapes20 no. 1 (Spring 2013): 95-128 (link)

  • Vernacular Architecture Forum Catherine W. Bishir Prize for significant contribution to the study of vernacular architecture and cultural landscapes, 2014

Chapters in Books

Wiley, Amber N. “Firmitas, Utilitas, Profectus: The Architecture of Exploitation in Ghana,” in Architectural Guide: Sub-Saharan Africa 3, eds. Philipp Meuser and Adil Dalbai (Berlin: DOM Publishers, 2021): 276-283 (link)

Wiley, Amber N. “The Dunbar High School Dilemma: Architecture, Power, and African American Cultural Heritage,” in Giving Preservation a History: Histories of Historic Preservation in the United States, Second Edition, eds. Max Page and Randall Mason (London, New York: Routledge, 2019): 249-301 (link)

Wiley, Amber. “A Model School for a Model City: Shaw Junior High School as a Monument to Planning Reform,” in Designing Schools: Space, Place and Pedagogy, eds. Julie Willis and Kate Darian-Smith (London, New York: Routledge, 2017): 158-174 (link)

Media

DC Legacy Project: Barry Farm: Community, Land, and Justice in Washington, DC, 2022 (link)

  • Society of Architectural Historians Film and Video Award, 2024
  • Vernacular Architecture Forum Paul E. Buchanan Award for excellence in field work, interpretation, and public service, 2023
  • District of Columbia Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation for community outreach and education, 2022

Fellowships, Grants, and Awards

  • Mellon Foundation, Humanities in Place, Henry Ossawa Tanner House, 2023
  • Mellon Foundation, Humanities in Place, African American and Civil Rights Heritage and Preservation Programs, 2021
  • National Endowment for the Humanities, Collaborative Research Grant, Principal Instigator on sub-award; David Rifkind, Project Director, Architecture of the African Diaspora in/of the United States, 2021
  • Dumbarton Oaks, Harvard University, Mellon Fellowship in Urban Landscape Studies, “‘The Revolution Continues’: The Legacy of the Black Heritage Movement,” 2021
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Global Architectural History Teaching Collaborative, Mellon Foundation, Architecture of the African Diaspora in/of the United States, 2020
  • Skidmore College, J. B. Moore Documentary Studies Collaborative Storytellers’ Institute Fellow, 2017
  • Emerging Scholar, Diverse: Issues In Higher Education, 2016
  • Society of Architectural Historians, H. Allen Brooks Travelling Fellowship, 2013
  • Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Diversity Achievement Award, Project Pipeline at Tulane School of Architecture, 2012
Top